Feeling the Violence

Violence in video games have been talked about for a long time, especially when The Last Of Us came out in June. This game, in my opinion, is a masterpiece. But I don't just mean that about the gameplay or the story, but the actions that come with the violence of the game. Its a game about survival and when its time to fight for your life, you have to do what you have to do. There is no talking it out in this world. Its kill or be killed. I recently went back to play on Normal + and got to the scene where you are just arriving in Pittsburg. Right when one of the hunters starts to grab Ellie, I started to worry. Even though this is my second playthrough of the game, I couldn't help but worry about that character being grabbed by a hunter. It's insane that a video game can make me feel this way. I'm trying to do everything in my power to protect this girl. She's not even real but Naughty Dog has crafted such an amazing experience that I cant help but jump out of my seat in my living room and try to help Ellie. It felt so real. When the hunter grabs Joel and tries to cut his neck on the glass, you have to fight back and make the hunter get his throat sliced by the shard of glass. It made me cringe, but in my mind I needed to save Ellie. I need to do whatever it took to make sure she wasn't hurt.

Even now when I'm at work or college, I'm still thinking about all the scenes and the actions that have taken place in that game. Sure, it can violent, but its what is necessary to survival in that world. I could feel everything that happened in that game like it really happened. Every person that I killed had begged for their lives but tried to kill me in the beginning. It has left a huge impact on me. This medium has evolved so much over the years and it keeps getting better and better. Soon there will be more stories like this to be told and will make you feel things that you probably never felt before with video games. All because I could feel the actions that I partook in. The Violence has a weight to it, you might think its bad, but it not if the stories are like this. Making you feel. This is the Future for this Medium.